A NewsLink service for Dole Chile

Thursday, October 23, 2014

SAFETY NEWS
NOAA RELEASES 2015 TIDE TABLES
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) has released the 2015
tide tables for both commercial and
recreational mariners for safe navigation.
Printed tide tables provide the user with tide
and tidal current predictions in an easy-to-read
format for a particular location. Concerned
parties can get tide predictions and tidal
current predictions online for US coastal
stations for up to two years but this service
cannot provide international locations. For
information on obtaining a printed copy of the
2015 Tide Tables and Tidal Current Tables,
visit the Tides and Currents website.
NOAA's Centre for Operational
Oceanographic Products and Services and
predecessor agencies have been producing
these tide tables since 1867. Tide tables are
produced annually and come out in October.
This allows each member country to
produce annual predictions for locations
around the world, in their native language, for
use by their mariners, shipping industry, and
recreational sector. NOAA's annual tide and
tidal current tables include predictions for
more than 10,000 international locations.
Source: NOAA

Jokowi's cabinet venue signals

maritime focus
Newly inaugurated President Joko "Jokowi"
Widodo's choice of Tanjung Priok to announce
his Cabinet signals his administration's vision of
prioritising the development of the maritime
sector during his five-year term.
However, mixed signals are said to have
confused organisers about the venue.
Jokowi had allegedly instructed state-owned
port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II
(Pelindo II) to prepare the stage.
Although a black-carpeted stage and a sound
system already been set up since 7pm
Wednesday at Terminal 3, Jokowi suddenly
postponed the announcement.
No explanation was made by Jokowi's office
regarding the delay.
PT Pelindo II president director RJ Lino said
that preparations for the announcement were
made two days ago.
"A total of IDR500 million (USD41.55
million) to IDR700 million has been spent,"
Lino said, as quoted by tempo.co.
Previously, Tanjung Priok port head Arifin
Soenardjo said that the stage was intended for an
event by Jokowi, but he has not received further
information.

UN urged to sustain Somalia

anti-piracy efforts
The United Nations political chief on
Wednesday called for a long-term solution to
piracy off the Somali coast, urging sustained
efforts to address underlying conditions
conducive to breeding piracy.
Briefing the Security Council on piracy off the
Somali coast, Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the
multi-pronged approach may be "a daunting, but
unavoidable task, for it will enable Somalia to
effectively address, and ultimately defeat
piracy."
"We should not only ask what more needs to
be done to ensure that the scourge does not
return, but also what kind of support could be
provided to Somalia so that the country is able
to respond to the threat of piracy without
dependence on the countries support of
international navies," he said.
The east African nation has one of the most
dangerous coastlines in the world due to
rampant piracy which threatens not only
maritime workers but also the coastal economy.
Since the adoption of the first Security
Council resolution on the matter in June 2008,

some of the most urgent responses have

revolved around the "twin axes of deterring
pirate attacks and prosecuting and sanctioning of
pirates," Feltman told the Council.
Co-ordinated efforts by member states,
organisations and the maritime industry have
caused a drop in the incidents of piracy reported
off the coast of Somalia to their lowest levels in
recent years.
However, Feltman warned, "This progress is
fragile and reversible. We still see pirates
attempting to attack vessels and capture them for
ransom."
State-building and inclusive governance
efforts in Somalia must be led and owned by
Somalis themselves, he underscored, calling for
international support to the Somali government
in its efforts to deliver on its commitments
outlined in Vision 2016 and the Somali
Compact.
He also stressed that UN must be involved in
helping strengthen the capacity of Somalia and
other countries in the region to prosecute pirates
and to sanction the convicted.

IMO eyeing new guidelines on

bunker quality

MH370 wreckage may wash up

off Indonesia - ATSB

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO)

has agreed to consider introducing measures to
improve controls of bunkers delivered to ships.
INTERTANKO said its series of submissions
have resulted in progress to assure the quality of
fuel delivered to ships.
A correspondence group will develop
guidelines for states to ensure fuel quality
compliance with MARPOL Annex VI. It will
also consider the adequacy of the current legal
framework for assuring the quality of fuel.
INTERTANKO Managing Director Katharina
Stanzel said: "We welcome this decision.
However this is only the beginning as we
believe that control of compliance should be
transparent along the entire supply chain. Our
members and all ship owners should be able to
have confidence, and documented proof, that
fuels they receive are at or above the mandated
standards."
The tanker group argued that there should be
given first clear evidence of the quality of fuel
supplied to the ship is compliant.

Australian authorities have alerted Indonesia

that wreckage from the missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 may wash up on its
coastline.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau
(ATSB), which is leading the search for the
aircraft off the coast of Western Australia, said
in its latest operational update on Wednesday
that floating debris from the aircraft may have
drifted west away from Australia 's western
coastline and towards Indonesia.
The missing plane disappeared in March with
239 people on board, and despite an extensive
search, there has been no sign of any part of the
aircraft.
ATSB said it had informed Indonesian
authorities about finding possible aircraft debris.
The bureau said members of the Australian
public have reported finding material washed up
on the Australian coastline thinking it was the
MH370.

PAGE 2 - Thursday, October 23, 2014

SHIPPING DATA

ISM CODE

BALTIC EXCHANGE
Market snapshot: 1200 GMT October 23
Dry Index
BDI
1136 + 46
Capesize Index
BCI
2186 +183
Panamax Index
BPI
1066 + 34
Supramax Index
BSI
907 - 4
Handysize Index
BHSI
496 - 2

EXCHANGE RATES
New York (Wed Cls)
Fgn Currency
in USD
Britain (Pound)
1.6048
Canada (Dollar)
0.8899
China (Yuan)
0.1634
Euro
1.2646
India (Rupee)
0.0163
Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000083
Japan (Yen)
0.009327
Norway (Krone)
0.1512
Philippines (Peso)
0.0223
Poland (Zloty)
0.2989
Russia (Ruble)
0.0241
Singapore (Dollar)
0.7860
Ukraine (Hryvnia)
0.0772

USD in Fgn
Currency
0.6231
1.1237
6.1185
0.7908
61.2100
12060.00
107.2100
6.6140
44.7900
3.3500
41.4096
1.2723
12.9550

"The ATSB reviews all of this correspondence

carefully, but drift modelling undertaken by the
Australian Maritime Safety Authority has
suggested that if there were any floating debris,
it is far more likely to have travelled west, away
from the coastline of Australia," the ATSB said.

ENERGY

BP awards contracts for new

LNG project
BP Berau, operator of the Tangguh liquefied
natural gas (LNG) plant in Papua, has named
two consortiums of companies to work on the
engineering design of its Train 3 expansion
project.
The first consortium consists of PT Tripatra
Engineers and Constructors, PT Tripatra
Engineering,
PT
Chiyoda
International
Indonesia, PT Saipem Indonesia, PT Suluh
Ardhi Engineering and Chiyoda Corporation
Consortium.
The FEED contracts, which cover the design
of an LNG train, jetty and associated
infrastructure, are scheduled to be finished
within 12 months, the Jakarta Post reported.

NZ politicians charge oil giant

with illegal offshore drilling
Multinational oil and gas giant Shell and its
New Zealand partner company, Todd Energy,
have been caught drilling illegal offshore wells
and escaped prosecution despite concerns from
the government's environment watchdog,
according to documents out Wednesday.
The opposition Green Party released the
documents from the Environmental Protection
Authority (EPA) that concluded that Shell Todd
Oil Services (STOS) broke the law by drilling
two wells without a marine consent off the west
coast of the North Island.
The EPA inspected the Maui A and Maui B
offshore installations in May and found two
instances of STOS not complying with the
Exclusive Economic Zone Act, which was
passed in June last year, by drilling extension
wells without a marine consent, said a report by
Chinese media.

PH maritime office trains new

safety inspectors
A total of 24 technical personnel of the
Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
underwent a five-day Auditor's Training Course
on International Safety Management (ISM) last
October 13 to 17 at Bayview Park Hotel,
Manila.
MARINA Administrator Dr Maximo Mejia, in
opening the five-day course, underscored the
relevance of the training-course in order to
effectively meet the Administration's obligation
of promoting maritime safety and environmental
protection,
explaining the ISM Code belongs to the
regime of maritime regulations likewise geared
at eliminating human error which is a
contributing factor in numerous tragic accidents
in the sea.
The training was conducted in partnership
with Class Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, a member of
the International Association of Classification
Societies, with the help of its country manager
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, and course lecturer, Ng
Kwan Ying,
of Class NK Singapore.
Mejia said the training-course was part of
MARINA's efforts to enhance the capabilities of
the agency's technical personnel in auditing the
safety management of ships and shipping
companies based on the standards set by the
ISM Code.

SOUTH PACIFIC

Fiji to acquire two more ships

for island villages
The Fijian government is acquiring two more
ships to improve links with island villages next
year.
This was confirmed to the Fiji Sun by the
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Pio
Tikoduadua.
This, he said, was part of commitments
towards improving the lives of those living in
maritime communities.
He said one was coming in July next year and
then they were looking at another one
afterwards.
Tikoduadua said the ship to be delivered in
July 2015 is almost complete and is under
construction in Malaysia.
The two new ships were in addition to the two
that had already been commissioned early this
year.
He said the absence of shipping vessels for
some outlying communities had often delayed
the provision of basic services and resources to
these communities as they depended largely on
this form of transportation.
The first vessel could carry cargo and 20
passengers and was purchased from Malaysia at
a cost of USD2.6 million.

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WORLD TRAVEL
PALACE HOTELS AROUND THE WORLD
Not everyone is a backpacker. Not
everyone relies on wherever the road takes
them. Some are suckers for luxury, who
need a little more than just comfort, who
need a touch of royale. Here is a list of
some magnificent palace hotels of the
world:

BUSSACO PALACE HOTEL, LUSO,

PORTUGAL
This palace, located in the heart of a
natural reserve in Bussaco, was built for
the last king of Portugal in 1885 and
converted into a deluxe hotel in 1917. This
exquisite hotel is a superb representation
of the Portuguese 'Manueline-Ghotic' style.

THE MARK , PRAGUE, CZECH

REPUBLIC
Converted from a former baroque palace,
The Mark Hotel Prague forms an aura of
luxury, with artfully blended classical design
and modern art and technology throughout.
The location is ideal for leisure and
entertainment.

TAJ LAKE PALACE, UDAIPUR, INDIA

Built between 1743-46 by Maharana Jagat
Singh II, Lake Palace (formerly known as
Jag Niwas) located on the island of Jag
Niwas in Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India. It
operates a speed boat which transports
guests to the hotel from a jetty at the City
Palace. It has also been voted as the most
romantic hotel in India and in the world.

CIRAGAN PALACE KEMPINSKI,

ISTANBUL, TURKEY
A former Ottoman palace, Ciragan is now a
five-star hotel in the Kempinski Hotels
chain. It is located on the European shore
of the Bosporus, between Besiktas and
Ortakoy in Istanbul, Turkey. The Sultan's
Suite, billed at USD15,332 per night, is
ranked number 14 on World's 15 most
expensive hotel suites compiled by CNN
Go in 2012.